Doctor in Chaco becomes Argentina's 38th fatality from coronavirus

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Doctor Francisco Marin is the 38th victim of the coronavirus in Argentina. | Courtesy of Diario Chaco

Francisco Marín, a doctor and the regional health director for the municipality of Resistencia, has become Chaco Province's seventh fatalitiy from Covid-19 in the region, officials have confirmed.

Chaco, a poor region in Argentina's northeast, has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. To date, it has recorded more than 100 confirmed cases. Nationally, Argentina has recoded more 1,200 cases, with 132 announced on Thursday evening.

Health officials said on Friday that Marín, the director of the municipal health department of the provincial capital, had previously attended to a patient in Chaco who had contracted Covid-19.

In the aftermath, the 61-year-old doctor had initially entered into self-isolation at his home, but as his condition worsened, he was admitted to Resistencia's Femechaco Sanatorium, a community health centre.

Marín remained at the hospital for six days, but the illness progressed, taking his life. After news of his death emerged, tributes from local health unions began flooding in.

"Our most sincere condolences and sympathy go to the family and friends of our compañero Francisco Marín, doctor and Director of Health at the Municipality of Resistencia, who has died because of Covid-19. He rests in peace," read one issued by the Union of Municipal Workers.

Chaco has 106 confirmed cases to date. Provincial Health Minister Paola Benitez said Friday that of these, 55 percent from close contact with someone infected, 20 percent are from community transmission, 18 percent are imported as a result of travelling abroad and 6.5 percent are still under investigation.

She also noted that 512 samples from individuals had come back negative from a total of 883 submitted for testing. Some 265 cases still under study. Chaco's Director for Medical Emergencies, Nicolas Ivancovich called yesterday for social isolation and asked residents "to strictly comply with the [ntionwide] quarantine."

"In the last 12 days, from March 19 to 31, we detected that 786 Chacoans have returned from abroad from countries with viral circulation. They left the country when we already had the problem and I ask them to be responsible in self-reporting and to comply with strict isolation," he requested.